New Spec AS Psychology May 2016 Predictions

I’ve been really really reluctant to do these new spec AS psychology predictions and it’s the main reason they are this late (the day before the exam – sorry!). I’ve had so many emails requesting it I thought I’d give them a go. Firstly – a disclaimer:

The reason I didn’t want to do these is there is no precedent for this new specification and I have nothing to base my predictions on in terms of patterns or what has or hasn’t come up so it literally is almost purely guess-work. To be fair most my predictions are guess-work but they are best-guesses based on patterns and what has and hasn’t come up over the years (and what the mark allocation has been) but with the new specification that goes out the window. I’m having to base my predictions on the old spec which obviously doesn’t fit in exactly with this new one. If I get these wrong – I don’t want an army of psychology students outside my house burning a cross with pitch-forks. Always revise everything.

My goal is going to be to highlight topics which I think can make an appearance in some form – not necessarily just the essay questions (although they could come up as full essays too). I’m going to do this by comparing the old spec and the new spec. If you started studying psychology from September 2015 (which most will have if they are doing this new specification) then you will likely not be aware of how the old spec and new spec differ content wise. So my goal is to highlight these differences as I think they are the questions most likely to make an appearance (I mean whats the point of having a whole new specification and then not asking questions on these new topics? – that’s my logic and thinking behind these predictions due to the absence of past papers to compare to).

If I happen to get them right do send me a tweet, message or email to help inflate my ego a little and let me know – my low self-esteem can always do with a boost.

If you need help with the psychology new specification

My Unit 1 ebook for the new psychology specification can be downloaded instantly by clicking the image on the right. It covers every single possible essay question you can be asked in the exam and will surely come in handy for the other sections too. Everything is nicely split between theory and evaluation for you to source from in a nice and friendly way to help you with your questions for this exam – it’s not too late to use it even now, especially if you haven’t prepared for the predicted questions.

New AS Spec Unit 1 Psychology Predictions

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These possible questions below I believe can make an appearance in some form throughout the whole exam paper – either full essays or smaller questions and I would personally give them greater attention. WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW TOO!

Explanations of attachment: Learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory/The concepts of the critical period and an internal working model: The old specification did have attachment in it and it plays a massive part in psychology. This new spec is focusing on different area’s of it such as Bowlby’s monotropic theory and his idea of an internal working model giving it more focus. It would probably be a good area to focus on as its not too foreign for new teachers to teach and also links in nicely with previous learning materials for the old spec too.

Types of long-term memory: episodic, semantic and procedural: Again a new section which focuses on long-term memory specifically in greater depth. The old spec never looked at it in this level of detail and this would be something to consider.

Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and retrieval failure due to the absence of cues. Again a new topic which wasn’t in the old specification.

Dispositional explanation of obedience: the authoritarian personality. Again lightly touched on in the old spec but is now a core part of this new specification. Not convinced it can be a full-blown essay but smaller questions on it are likely.

Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony: stages of attachment by schaffer, multiple attachments and the role of the father. I hate this topic. No idea why they decided to give this so much focus that is has its own section but for some reason they did and it forms part of the new specification. This is all stuff that was lightly touched on in the old specification too but now it has its own chapter dedicated to it all so I would revise it.

Also watch out for:

The working memory model: This is so overdue and in both the old spec and new spec. I’ve predicted this as a strong possibility in coming up as part of the old specification exam but if it doesnt I think it can also come up in this new specification too as its just so overdue for either.

The multi-store memory model: Only appeared as a 6 marker and was last a 12 marker back in January 2012. Again its overdue in both papers.

Cultural variations in attachment and Ainsworth’s strange situation: Theres always questions on attachment and Ainsworth’s work hasnt ever had a full essay question on it. Also cultural variations in attachment is in both the new spec and old spec and is overdue an appearance.

So these are my predictions – what do you think?

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